Company enters into letter of intent to sell subsidiary.
Theglobe.com (TGLO.ob) has signed a letter of intent to sell its Tralliance subsidiary. Tralliance is the registry for .travel domain names. Sounds simple enough, but this incestuous deal is complicated enough to make your head spin.
The .travel registry almost went bankrupt last year before it was bailed out by majority shareholder Michael Egan. But then Egan was involved in a number of insider dealings that are questionable at the least. Technologist John Levin wrote a good summary of these self-dealings:
Originally, they had strict rules about who was allowed to register, basically only members of a list of well known industry associations. As of December 21, they have new rules that seem to limit registrants to anyone who shows the faintest interest, with a preference to bulk registrations. (If you followed the history of .aero, the deja vú is intense.) In September, they sold their search.travel search engine for about $300K to a company controlled by Egan, stating they needed the cash to stay in business. Then, according to an SEC filing, Labigroup, another company controlled by Egan, has agreed to buy at least 25,000 .travel domains, producing over $250,000 of simulated revenue which looks an awful lot like taking money out of one pocket, waving it around, and then putting it back in one’s other pocket, particularly since another SEC filing two weeks ago reveals that current owner theglobe.com is selling Tralliance to yet another LLC owned directly by Egan.
Did you follow that? It gets juicier. According to posts at NamePros, Egan registered at least some of his 25,000 domains two daysbefore the new landrush opened up. In other words, he was able to cherry pick all of the good domains. John Q. Public was waiting around for his chance to register domains, and Egan got first dibs.
Edward Hasbrouck, a noted critic of .travel, also notes that the registry sale may not be consistent with ICANN policy.
Sounds slimy? You bet.
John Bomhardt says
lol sounds like another desperate registry we heard about (related to the last sedo auction disaster)…
Heidi says
As a representataive of .travel, I wanted to personally clarify the recent news of the intent to sell Tralliance Corporation.
The intended sale will not result in changes to management, policies, or to Tralliance’s relationship with the TTPC (industry sponsor). We will continue to manage and promote the .travel domain name. Under the new structure, Tralliance will operate more efficiently and cost savings generated from the transaction will allow us to allocate more dollars to the promotion of the domain.
In the next few weeks, you will begin to see the effects of the promotion through participation at TIA’s event in Washington DC, ITB in Berlin, and Le Map Monde in Paris. This is in addition to already started multi-media campaign.
Heidi
Tralliance Corporation, the .travel Registry
Andrew says
Heidi, thanks for your comment. Can you clarify how Michael Egan was able to register his domains prior to the general public being able to?
David J Castello says
Go Andrew!
Andrew says
David, $10 says we don’t hear back from Heidi. If we do, I’ll buy you a beer at the next TRAFFIC.
David J Castello says
You’re on. Make mine a Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.
David J Castello says
Wait a minute – I’m on the wrong side of this bet! OK, I owe you ten at the next TRAFFIC (unless Heidi suddenly speaks for Mr Egan).
R. Tameshki says
Hello to all TGLO long suffering share holders:
I think we should all get together and sue these scum bags (Egan & the co). Surly what he is doing is illegal. Let make him pay by taking him to the court and hopefully behind bars.
SHAME ON YOU EGAN WITH ALL YOUR FALSE PROMISES.
Bond007 says
I agree 100% with R.Tameshki about suing TGLO, who are not only selling their cash cow, but destroying itself by dilution. TGLO has never been operating trustfully and above-board. Just look at all the promises that they never kept (.Travel TV ads, commercials etc…). I’ve never seen one ad. Look at all number of law suits that were filed against TGLO over the last five years and look at the number of settlements they’ve had to pay out. How does the SEC allow TGLO, with a court record and complaint history like theirs, sell its main asset to a majority shareholder’s private company, all-the-while leaving TGLO without any purpose or business operation? Why are the remaining minority shareholders not compensated with shares to the new company. Are they being compensated fairly and justly? I think not. But I also think that the only way TGLO will operate honesty and fairly is if shareholders file a CLASS ACTION law suit against them. Maybe then we can see just how honest their ownership, management and numbers were and are?
Steve says
The very first .travel domain name was sold in the secondary market in 2008. http://www.YellowPages.travel sold for $2.9 million USD. Trailliance and Egan may be screwing up the company but the sale of this domain for this high dollar amount shows the value of .travel domains. Egan could be sitting on 25,000 little gold mines.